This wasn’t the happy ending anyone was hoping for.
As unfortunate as it is, every television show has limitations in its potential. Of course, there are many examples in television history of soap operas that can go on forever and spawn new ideas, but they too tend to degrade over time.
Also, they don’t have to worry about realism while more serious, procedural dramas usually do.
Grey’s Anatomy has done very well considering how many seasons it has. Of course, the series has lost some of its writing quality in the almost 20 years it’s been on the air, but renewal after renewal proves that it still has a very loyal following no matter how bad the storylines get at times.
One of the things that audiences still find it hard to forgive the writers is Alex Karev’s departure from Gray Sloan Memorial Hospital.
As one of the five original interns introduced to viewers at the beginning of the first season, Karev had some difficulties in winning over audiences, but ended up becoming a fan favorite.
Unfortunately, in 2020 Justin Chambers, who portrayed Karev for more than 15 years, announced that he was leaving the series to pursue other opportunities. As much as fans were willing to support his decision, they weren’t ready for what Karev in-universe was expecting.
On the show, Alex Karev also wanted to leave to pursue other opportunities, but in his case, those “opportunities” included Izzie Stevens and her two children, who were born from embryos she had frozen while battling cancer. It would be a very nice character ending if Karev didn’t have family in Seattle.
With Alex leaving his wife Jo and everything they had together, and not even seeing eye to eye with her or his best friend Meredith, the writers have all but undone years of character development.
Nobody really expected Karev to prove to be such a coward that he couldn’t watch him explain his decisions but felt the need to leave immediately.
Needless to say, the departure caused a lot of backlash, and many fans still can’t believe their favorite character was ruined by a bad showrunner’s decision.
If you want to revisit the previous seasons of Grey’s Anatomy and reminisce about the glory days of MAGIC, you can stream the show on Netflix, Hulu, or Disney Plus.